NTT Communications' SDx Technologies to be Adopted by McLaren-Honda for 2017 Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix

McLaren-Honda, a pioneering leader in Formula 1 motor racing for over 50
years, and NTT Communications, the ICT solutions and international
communications business within the NTT Group (TOKYO:9432), announced
today that NTT Communications’ software-defined-everything (SDx)
technologies will be incorporated for the first time in a track-side
network connecting the Suzuka Circuit in Japan and the McLaren
Technology Centre in Woking, UK during the 2017 Formula 1 Japanese Grand
Prix.

By adopting NTT Communications’ SDx technologies, McLaren-Honda plans to
implement a series of tests during the Japanese Grand Prix to strengthen
its remote management of race strategy using telemetry data provided at
extra high speed. NTT Communications’ secure ICT infrastructure is
expected to control network bandwidth flexibly and efficiently in
testing the speed and quality of the new software-defined wide-area
network (SD-WAN)’s greatly increased bandwidth. Data will also be
transmitted between Japan and the UK via an existing MPLS circuit.

Features of New SDx Technologies

Flexible network leveraging SD-WAN
The SD-WAN will offer expanded
bandwidth and highly efficient data transmission in response to data
priority by combining the existing MPLS circuit and NTT
Communications’ complementary circuits, including internet,
constructed at the circuit. The solution is expected to shift traffic
from internet circuits in the garage, engineers’ workplace, and guest
Wi-Fi to these complementary circuits alongside the existing MPLS
network. Large-capacity, high-resolution, video conferencing will be
distributed over the NTT SD-WAN to enable the all-important
collaboration between engineers working trackside and other global
locations.

WAN acceleration and UTM achieved with NFV infrastructure
Network
functions virtualization (NFV) infrastructure will be leveraged in the
cloud to rapidly deploy both WAN acceleration for data transmission
without latency and a unified threat management (UTM) Web proxy
function for guaranteed network security.

SD-Exchange leveraged for high-speed connection between Japan and UK
NTT
Com’s SD-Exchange service will enable high-volume data to be
transmitted much faster than with a normal internet connection because
the data will be routed from Japan to the UK through NTT
Communications’ global high-bandwidth infrastructure.

Mr. Matt Lockie, IT Director for Racing, McLaren Technology Group said,
“In the highly competitive world of Formula One, our ability to partner
with NTT Communications to utilize state of the art SD-WAN technology
really helps to give us an advantage over the competition. I am proud of
the way our teams have worked together in delivering such innovative
network technology to meet the challenging requirements of fast data
delivery to our engineers trackside and back at base in Mission Control.”

Mr. Tatsuya Yamashita, Senior Vice President, Technology Development /
Vice President, Next Generation Platform Taskforce, commented, “McLaren
Honda is the remarkably advanced technological team among the Formula 1.
It will be a great advantage for NTT Com to jointly conduct development
as a technology partner to meet highly technological demand. I am
excited that we can deploy our advanced technologies of SD-WAN and NFV
to the race site at Formula 1 team earlier than other providers.”

Following deployment of this solution for the 2017 Formula 1 Japanese
Grand Prix, McLaren-Honda and NTT Communications plan to further test
and enhance large-capacity data transmission security, speed and
efficiency, with an eye on deployment for future races. By transforming
the way they collect and leverage racing data, NTT Communications and
McLaren-Honda expect to transcend current Formula 1 methodologies.
Further details about this initiative will be introduced at NTT
Communications Forum 2017 in Tokyo on October 5 and 6.

NTT Communications, beginning from this year’s racing season, is also
providing McLaren-Honda with its Arcstar Universal One enterprise VPN
network service to deliver fast and flexible communication to the
company’s 16 global offices.

Data is shared widely in real-time, including at track and the team’s
headquarters in a coordinated effort to plan and implement real-time
racing strategies faster than the competition. In-race transmissions can
reach as much as 100GB of data — covering race-site weather, engine
speeds, brake pressures, fuel levels, tire air pressure, on-board video,
and more — this data is collected from 200 sensors and cameras embedded
in a race car.

About McLaren-Honda Formula 1 Team

Since 1963, McLaren Racing has become one of the most successful and
ground-breaking teams in Grand Prix motor racing, creating some of the
most iconic Formula 1 cars in the sport's history.

From its humble roots in a small workshop in New Malden, Surrey, where
Bruce McLaren pulled together a small crew of committed individuals to
design, build and race cars bearing his own name, McLaren Racing is now
based at the famous McLaren Technology Centre, Woking - home to all of
the team's businesses, and workplace to more than 3,000 people. For any
organisation, that's quite an incredible transformation. Yet the
company's sporting successes have equally blossomed beyond measure since
those early days.

Bruce took the team into Formula 1 at the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix – and,
since that day, no team in Formula 1 has scored more victories [182]
than McLaren. Over the 50 plus years that it has been competing in the
sport, McLaren has also won 12 Drivers' Championships and 8
Constructors' Championships. Elsewhere, the team dominated the iconic
North American CanAm sports car series, taking 43 wins between 1967 and
1972, won the Indy 500 three times between '72 and '76, and took the Le
Mans 24 Hours on its first attempt, in 1995.